


Crash Into Me

by PropShopHannah



Series: Throne of Glass prompts and asks [2]
Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: AU, F/M, rowaelin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 14:09:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8627524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PropShopHannah/pseuds/PropShopHannah
Summary: Anon asked: Rowaelin circus AU though. I'm thinking Aelin as one of those really graceful but athletic curtain dancers and she's so popular that she needs a body guard (Rowan) and at first they hate each other but soon come to learn about and respect one another [Thanks to @itachi on tumblr for helping me with this. I really had no idea what to do with this one.]





	

The first thing she thought when she heard the curtain tear was how much it would hurt to hit the stage floor from thirty feet up. The second thing she thought was that she knew exactly who’d tampered with the curtain–Arobynn. **  
**

Three weeks ago, Aelin had filed a restraining order against her old, creepy manager. Sure, he’d taught her everything she knew about the circus arts, but the man was a creep. And ever since she’d left him to move to Vegas and take a lead role in a prestigious company, he’d done nothing but harass her.

Aelin could see and hear where the curtain was tearing. It was only a yard above her. If she climbed fast enough–carefully enough–she might be able to grab the fabric above the tear and hold on until someone came to help her.

She heard the crowd gasp, people shouting. Saw a flash of moon-white hair as Manon jumped from the rigging onto a curtain–trying to swing over to get to her. Aelin knew her friend would never make it. Knew her only chance would be to grab the fabric above the tear.

She gathered all the strength she had and launched herself just as the tear finally severed the curtain in two. Her fingertips grazed the bottom of the torn fabric above her. A few more inches and she could grab it. A few more inches up–

For a moment, Aelin felt weightless. As if she were floating in the air. Then she began to fall.

***

When Rowan first heard the curtain begin to tear, he had no idea what it was. It’d taken him a second to realize what was happening–that Aelin would fall.

He’d just moved.

He’d been hired a few weeks ago by Aelin’s new talent manager as a bodyguard. Apparently, Aelin of the Wildfire–or whatever her stage name was–was pretty famous. She’d recently signed with a bigger company, and her old one hadn’t liked it very much. The owner–some douche named Arobynn Hamel–had started stalking Aelin, harassing her. It was Rowan’s job to keep her safe.

It was a job Rowan would have enjoyed had the woman not been so hard to deal with. She was vain, loud, arrogant, and had been treating him like her personal secretary. _It was not his job to drive her to get ice cream at eleven o’clock at night._

But none of that mattered when he’d realized she was going to fall. None of that mattered as he sprinted across the stage–arms out to catch her.

The last thing Rowan remembered before everything went black was the feel of Aelin’s body as she crashed into his open arms.

***

“Rowan? Rowan? Can you hear me?”

 _Damn,_ he thought. _I can’t even get away from her in my sleep._

“Rowan?” She slapped him. Hard. He opened his eyes. The room spun. Aelin was hovering over him. She looked fine–shaken up, but fine.

“Jesus, woman,” he mumbled. “I save your life, and you hit me?” He began to sit up.

“Careful,” Aelin said. “Manon’s gone to get the medic. We’ve called an ambulance.” Rowan groaned. He ran his hand along the back of his head. He was bleeding. A lot. He looked at Aelin. At the silver lining her eyes.

“I’m fine,” he said. “You okay?” He scanned her for injury. She was shaking and pale. She shrugged.

“I think so,” she said, looking at her body, breathing too fast. “Everything happened so fast–the curtain was cut–I just started falling–I have some bruises–I think I pulled a muscle in my wrist–”

“Hey, come here,” Rowan said, putting his arms around her. She crawled into his lap, and he heard the moment she began to sob. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”

“He tried to kill me. He-he tried to kill me.” She sobbed harder. He didn’t know why, but he pressed his cheek into the top of her head, and rocked her as best he could.

“It’s okay. I won’t let anything happen to you, okay?” She took a shuddering breath and nodded at him as she sat up. She furiously wiped at her tears–trying to school her face.

“I’m sorry I hit you,” she said. He snorted. His arm was still around her. He felt the blood on the back of his head.

“They’re gonna take me to the hospital,” he said as calmly as he could. “I’m pretty sure I need stitches.” Aelin only nodded. She was still shaking. “Why don’t you come with me? I’d feel better knowing you were close.” He didn’t think she’d go for it at first. But then he added, “Just in case.” She nodded and wiped at a few more tears as they fell.

Aelin rode in the ambulance with him, and sat next to him in the hospital when the doctor stitched his head back together. The police came and they both gave statements. The whole thing lasted about five hours. It was one in the morning before they were able to leave the hospital.

“Thank you,” she whispered as they watched Manon pull into the pick-up lane at the ER.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Rowan said, opening the passenger door for her. “You’re paying me to protect you.” Aelin swallowed hard.

“Will you stay with me tonight? At my house. I have a guest room and stuff. You can say no if you want. It’s fine.” Rowan smiled. This woman, whoever she was, seemed so at odds with the Aelin he’d been hired to protect. He smiled.

“I was planning on it.”

**[END]**

**Author's Note:**

> I'm PropShopHannah on Tumblr


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